I apologize if you read this before but this essay is still pertinent.

The problem in consumer computer industry is that in order to be Great, you have to be in part, Crazy.

The button up corporations of IBM, HP and Microsoft use market focus groups, surveys and large committees to join a consensus. Examples are the bloated MS Vista Programs and MS Word 2010.

Apple uses the gut instincts of one man, Steven Jobs. No bogus committee meetings. And he has the role of a Philosopher King and Tyrant. But he is also brilliant, not in just technology but the critical human interface.

He understands that half of the population are women, and they do not care to learn technical programming, geek slang and deal with buggy software. And that many of the users are older than 60 yo, and cannot bend their minds around clunky software nonsense. And kids still expect magic. And that nobody really thinks that Ctrl-Alt-Del is intuitive.

And that when you can have software and hardware and interface problems, then it is better to design it from the bottom up-- INTEGRATED. Users do not care if a problem is hardware or software....they just want it to WORK!

Yes, Jobs is abrasive, difficult, arrogant and stubborn. He got fired in 1985 for these reasons. But when you are right, you should be no less.

Apple Computer's success is more due to luck than competency. Apple is Stephen Jobs. And Stephen Jobs is crazy. Jobs is bipolar, and they can be visionary, inspirational and charismatic. Any other personality would not have have achieved their string of success of great products. And become the most valued company in America. Unfortunately, all men are mortal, and Apple best days are behind it.

Jobs is Insanely Great. Both Insane and Great. The Problem with the Button-Up Corporates are they are not Crazy. They just push elevator buttons until they get to their floor. And when Jobs goes away, unfortunately, Apple will also be a run-or-the-mill, standard, button-up, business-as-usual corporation, just like they were in 1985-95.

The Button Up Corporations are just clones that eventually follow Job's product breakthroughs like the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, or Apps Store. And you can either try your own clunky software or just reverse engineer Apple.

Stephen Jobs was an unfocused distracted student. He went to a liberal arts, book-reading academy in Portland, OR. Dropped out after one semester. Stuck around, and played in the arts studios and developed an interest in caligraphy. Ate free vegetarian food at a local Buddist temple where he developed a love of Japanese culture and minimal design. Walked everywhere in tree shaded PDX neighborhoods and absorbed a green, recycling ethic.

Took his talents back to California and hung a sign on a garage starting a 'computer company' with two employees both named Steve. And began developing icon based visual computing, graphics, and word processors that allow easy font manipulations that were seen in the Macintosh pc. Subsequently became a leader of the computer industry, the music industry, the smart phone industry, the gadget industry, and now tablet computing. Now the most valued company in America and most profitable in the world.

Otherwise society would have given up on this listless teen and college dropout. He failed academically. But his path was non typical. But he was revolutionary. There are other things besides degrees and education: ambition, vision, energy, focus and resilience. Education for some people, only is a hindrance. Forget resumes, passion can drive success. Some are mentally ill. And because of this will be destined for greatness.

Jobs has a terminal cancer and a liver transplant...how many CEO's could have run their company in that state, let alone pull off one of the greatest corporate turnarounds in modern business history?

Among other things, Jobs was the CEO and President of the most valuable company in America when he stepped down. His annual salary was $1 per year. That was probably the best dollar spent in history.

He was a vegetarian and lived with Buddhist simplicity--certainly not like a billionaire. He dressed like an impoverished college student and never had jewelry or bling. He had priorities focused like a laser. And spent his last months suffering in service and enduring life.

There may be another Steve Jobs alive today, committed somewhere in an asylum. You can't engineer craziness.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art? Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written? Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

think different ad campaign=apple computer

in buddhism death can be refered to as the process of continuation...in that respect see you soon mr jobs.

This is a sad time for the technology era. Steven Jobs has accomplished and contributed so much to the world. He has redefined technology, he was the Thomas Edition of your generation. He will never be forgotten and through his product his name will live forever.

Before Jobs computers were just for the big companies and government organizations. Apple II was the first desktop that most people can remember and of course the Apple II clones from Taiwan. He definitely changed the world and the news reports does not emphasize this fact. It is a contribution as important as the light bulb.

"It was not yet insanely great"... Yeah little did he know that his product would spring board into so much of the technology that we have today. Our society is now 100% technology orientated thanks to his initiation.

Steve Jobs was instrumental, to say the least in the technology era. His company and inventions have literally changed the world, and how the world communicates and accomplishes 21st century tasks. As a college student i own basically all apple products, macbook pro, ipod touch, iphone, and a desktop computer at home. I can easily say these are the best products of the industry comparing to other students computers. Jobs was a true pioneer of his field, and the apple product will only continue to grow.

Clearly the guy was a visionary, brilliant, resourceful, etc., but he was doing itall for himself and his own. He was not into helping humanity, he didnt care about the huge sunken costs families had to make to be part of hte 'enlightened apple' lovers. . He was a very very successful capitalist: and nothing wrong with that, but he seems to have felt the need to apologies to his own kids for not spending time with them.

But all this adulation for a guy who made himself wealthy, by creating effectively a personality cult. He was a control freak, who created a proprietorial cash cow, while convincing his exploited customers that he was a saviour.

It was all cult ego and control. Try open an iTunes account without a credit card, and then consider the temptation with a family of of kids with iPods and see how sensitive Steve was. Compare the monster Bill Gates, and the incredible humanitarian efforts he (and his friend Buffet) have made. And what about the Apple sweat shop in China? WHo gained from Apple - only rich people.

Sure I enjoy my iPad and my Mac, but I enjoy McDonald hamburgers and that doesnt make Robert Kroc someone that we idolize.

The outpouring of grief over Jobs demise, just shows how effective his own marketing has been.

He was a brilliant visionary and capitalist, his death was sad for his family and friends. But spare me the eulogies - he was an ego tripper, nothing more.